Made You Think
18: What Chefs Can Teach You About Productivity: Everything in Its Place by Dan Charnas
Episode guests
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- The ten ingredients of mise en place can be applied to improve life and productivity by focusing on planning, perfecting movements, and finishing actions.
- Understanding the dual nature of time and implementing the concept of making first moves can enhance productivity and overcome blocks and distractions.
- Intentional breaks and squaring the mind and body are important for better organization and efficiency, allowing individuals to align tasks with the calendar and address both mental and physical needs.
Deep dives
The Ten Ingredients of Mise En Place
The podcast episode discusses the ten ingredients of mise en place, which is a system used by chefs to organize their work and optimize efficiency. The ten ingredients include planning, arranging spaces, perfecting movements, cleaning as you go, making first moves, finishing actions, slowing down to speed up, open eyes and ears, call and call back, inspect and correct, and total utilization.
The Dual Nature of Time and Making First Moves
The podcast episode explores the importance of understanding the dual nature of time and making first moves. Unlike traditional time management approaches, chefs value both immersive time and process time, and they recognize the need for balance between them. By focusing on making first moves and efficiently managing both types of time, individuals can increase their productivity and overcome blocks and distractions.
The Importance of Honest Breaks and Squaring the Mind and Body
The podcast episode emphasizes the significance of intentional breaks and squaring the mind and body. Intentional breaks help individuals identify and overcome their blocks by being aware of triggers and distractions. Squaring the mind and body involves aligning tasks with the calendar, creating a balance between the mind's desire to accomplish many things and the body's ability to execute those tasks. By addressing both the mind's and body's needs, individuals can achieve better organization and efficiency.
The Value of mison plas as a Way of Life
The podcast episode highlights that mison plas is not just an efficiency system but a way of life that values individuals, people, and the planet. It encourages individuals to be aware of their work habits and strive for excellence through a commitment to personal organization. Mison plas ensures that one's time and resources are fully utilized, and that tasks are carried out with meticulous attention to detail and a focus on quality and delivery.
Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet
The podcast episode discusses the benefits of following a ketogenic diet, which involves consuming a low-carb, high-fat diet. The ketogenic diet is known to help with various health issues, including seizures, migraines, and psychological problems like anxiety. It can also improve cognitive performance and provide increased energy levels. The episode highlights the importance of getting into a state of ketosis, where the body uses ketones instead of glucose for fuel. The ketogenic diet can be challenging to start, but it offers long-term health benefits and can be followed as a lifestyle choice.
Introduction to Exogenous Ketones and MCT Oil Powder
The podcast episode introduces the concept of exogenous ketones and MCT oil powder as supplements to support a ketogenic lifestyle. Exogenous ketones can help individuals quickly reach a state of ketosis, boost cognitive performance, and aid in recovery from cheat meals. MCT oil powder is a good alternative to traditional MCT oil, as it is easier on the digestive system and provides similar benefits. Both supplements are recommended for individuals following a ketogenic diet, as well as those looking to enhance mental clarity, physical performance, and overall health.
Mise-en-place is not a crazy efficiency program. It is really a way of life for people who value themselves, people, eachother, and the planet.
In this episode of Made You Think, we’re covering the book Everything in Its Place (originally “Work Clean”) by Dan Charnas, and for the first time on the podcast, the author is joining us for the episode! This book is all about the strategies and tools that culinarians often use in their work, and applying these strategies to improve your life and productivity.
We cover a wide range of topics, including:
- The ten mise-en-place system techniques that you can use to improve your life
- The correlation between an organized space and an organized mind
- Using the mise en place system to reduce anxiety, improve work efficiency, and overall quality of life
- Building inner-discipline and being honest with yourself
- The importance of actually finishing the tasks that you start on
- Becoming a better manager and a few of the flaws in companies today
And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Everything in Its Place and to check out Nat’s Notes on the book!
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on How to Think Like Elon Musk, to learn how to emulate Musk’s way of thinking for extreme advantages in life, and our episode on The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, to learn how to use a simple theory to never stop improving.
Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more.
Mentioned in the show:
- Unlimited Brewing Company [1:12]
- Warner Brothers [2:03]
- The Eisenhower Matrix [4:29]
- School of Journalism [5:28]
- The Palm Pilot [5:54]
- NPR [12:06]
- Transcendental Meditation [22:22]
- Culinary Institute of America [25:35]
- Tisch [47:58]
- Saturday Night Live [48:29]
- Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee [1:01:37]
- Four Sigmatic Cordyceps Elixir [1:02:49]
- Made You Think support page [1:03:35]
- Perfect Keto [1:03:39]
- Kettle and Fire Bone Broth (20% off for listeners!) [1:03:41]
- Nat’s article on fasting [1:09:25]
- Keto Subreddit [1:12:13]
- Matcha MCT oil powder [1:17:04]
- Athletic Greens [1:18:04]
Books mentioned:
- Work Clean (Nat’s Notes) (new version of the book)
- Getting Things Done [0:48]
- The Goal [3:14] (Nat’s Notes) (episode on the book)
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People [4:02]
- First Things First [4:04]
- The Big Payback [4:37]
- The Making of a Chef [6:44]
- Kitchen Confidential [7:04]
- Heat by Beaufort [7:06]
- The Way of Zen [23:22] (Nat’s Notes) (Neil’s Notes) (episode on the book)
- Irrational Exuberance [1:00:25]
- Outliers [1:00:29]
- What Happened [1:00:45]
- Antifragile [1:04:04] (Nat’s Notes) (episode on the book)
- Godel Escher Bach [1:10:27] (Nat’s Notes) (episode on the book)
- Daily Rituals [1:18:35]
People mentioned:
- Dan Charnas
- Chris Sparks [0:33]
- Rick Rubin [2:05]
- Steven Covey [3:57]
- David Allen [6:08]
- Michael Ruhlman [6:44]
- Anthony Bourdain [7:04]]
- Wylie Dufresne [9:02]
- Jean-Georges [13:54]
- Thomas Keller [13:56]
- Alan Watts [23:22]
- Éric Ripert [25:28]
- Bill Buford [25:31]
- Lauren Michaels [48:29]
- Ernest Hemingway [50:23]
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb [1:00:13] (Antifragile episode)
- Tim Ferriss [1:02:42]
0:00 - Introduction featuring the author himself, Dan Charnas. A bit on what made Dan write the book, how he got into organizational systems, and some background on his life. Also, Dan listing some of the most influential books that he’s read.
7:24 - Dan’s journey to becoming a chef and him describing the importance of mise en place. Also, a bit on applying the powerful principles that chefs live by to other areas of life.
11:30 - The beginning of Dan cotifying mise en place for the first time with Work Clean, some thoughts on how things sometimes need an outside perspective, and a bit on the discipline and commitment that’s required in the culinary world. “There’s a certain level of commitment to reality that culinarians have that I think we miss in the corporate world.”
17:02 - The thirty-minute daily commitment to setting your own mise en place, some discussion on the macro and micro levels of the system outlined in Work Clean, and the importance of having a system that involves both the mind and the body.
20:02 - Using mise en place as an effective anxiety reducing technique, the correlation between an organized space and an organized mind, and a bit on the zen-like aspects of the book.
24:20 - Breaking down the ten ingredients/techniques of mise en place that you can bring together for your own personal system.
27:55 - The main technique of the mise en place system that has positively impacted Dan the most and some discussion on the importance of doing the largest tasks in your day first.
34:58 - Certain things to do watch out for when managing people, some thoughts on management in general, and discussion on implementing systems into large-scale organizations.
42:20 - General discussion on corporate meetings and the flaws of these meetings. Also, a bit on a chef’s heavy responsibilities, finding balance between speed and quality, and improving efficiency within a company. “A meeting is about sharing ideas, resolving conflicts, and unblocking.”
48:48 - Going in depth on the importance of actually finishing your actions. Also, some discussion on taking an intentional break and the need to be honest with yourself about your work. “Ninety percent finished is the same as zero percent finished.”
54:07 - A bit more on having a system for both the body and the mind, and linking the system to your calendar. Actually taking the time to do things and scheduling the time to do them. “This is what I can do today.”
58:14 - Wrap-up, where to find Dan at online, and some closing thoughts.
59:03 - After-thoughts with just Neil and Nat. Some discussion on various products discounted for listeners, diet, health, fasting, and going into ketosis (ketogenic diet). Also, some discussion getting into ketosis and how to minimize the negative effects when transitioning into ketosis.
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